Boston--Day Three

Sunday we headed out to Lexington to the Minute Men National Park and learned about the start of the Revolutionary War. We went through a couple houses and saw a man shoot an old period rifle. We also went for a walk to  the North Bridge. Saw the graves of some famous authors--Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott, Emerson, Hawthorne--in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. While Jerolyn took Todd to the Airport, we toured Orchard House, the home of Louisa May Alcott. Then on the drive back to the hotel we stopped at Walden Pond and the Boston Temple and took pictures.

 

Boston--Day Four

Monday we took the subway back into town and went on a tour of Harvard. We had a couple of enthusiastic undergrads give us an entertaining tour. It was neat to see the history of all the buildings (some of those dorms are really old) and also to see the "ugly period" from the buildings built in the 1970's. After the tour we headed out so we wouldn't get home too late. We had a great time and saw a lot of history. Trenton was such a happy little guy for the trip. He has done so much traveling already, maybe he will grow up to be a world traveler.

Planking Boston

Last weekend we had a fun trip to Boston where we met Camberly's parents, Isaac, Francie, and "T-nugget." More to come on the trip later but here is a preview. The above were at the Paul Revere Mall. Below are inside Old North Church and in Sleep Hollow cemetery.

Harvest Gold

This fall I decided it would be fun to can some fruit. I was inspired after a Relief Society activity about food preservation. Since the only thing I have ever eaten that was home canned is fruit, I decided to start from there. ( I have not yet gotten used to the idea of canned meat.) I went to the farmers market and got 8 quarts of peaches and pears. And I bought a lot of jars (but not enough--requiring a mid-canning run to get more).

Staci, the expert food preservationist, was kind enough to come over to my house to teach me and help me with the process. Fortunately it was a relatively cool day because the kitchen got pretty toasty. We washed, peeled, cored, and sliced fruit, made syrup, filled jars, and finally into they water bath they went. Out they came steaming hot to sit of the counter while we could hear the pop pop of the lids sealing. Every single can ended up sealing.

It was a lot of work but they sure look pretty. In fact I don't really want to open a jar and see how they turned out. (We did open a jar of pears and they were tasty.) We ended up with 18 1/2 pints each of peaches and pears in light syrup.

The jars are still sitting in neat little rows on the kitchen table while I try to figure out the best place to store them. Thanks Staci, I wouldn't and couldn't have done it without you. I may not be ready to try meat yet but I am definitely up for trying something else.

Fiber anyone?

Saturday we went to the Finger Lakes Fiber Arts Festival. You may wonder what exactly that means (like Caleb's mom who thought of things like All-Bran and prunes). But it is actually all about "fiber" which is wool from many different sources including sheep, alpacas, rabbits, camels, goats, etc. We saw sheep shearing, wool in different stages of processing, tons of yarn of all different types, and different items made with the wool.  There was supposed to be a sheep dog hearding competition but we were disappointed not to have seen it.


Camberly picked out several different colors of roving to try her hand at a new project involving both wet and needle felting. She also wishes she could knit better so she could try making some of the amazing things that we saw there.

Ta Da Kitchen

Months after its completion, here is a picture of the finished kitchen. This is the 3rd time our kitchen has had some sort of a makeover since we moved in. This time it got a new tile floor, a fresh coat of paint, and some new Roman shades. Many thanks to both sets of parents for all the time they have spent with us over the years working on this room. It feels so bright and new. It has been a lot of work getting to this point.

1st remodel-removed wallpaper, painted cabinents, painted walls two tone green, new light fixture and drawer pulls, Roman shades

2nd remodel- took out faux brick backsplash, replace countertop, new sink and new faucet, installed dishwasher, repainted the two tone green

In between- new refridgerator, new oven, new ceiling

3rd (and final) remodel- removed linoleum, put in tile, repainted cabinents, repainted walls two tone light browns, new Roman Shades

An Education in the Night Sky

At the end of July we had the opportunity to go on a tour of the Mees Observatory for the University of Rochester. Throughout the summer they do tours. It started with about an hour and a half of astronomy education at the Gannett house. Then the plan was to go up to the observatory and see what we might see.


After weeks of very dry hot weather, that day was on and off clouds. So we were worried the clouds would interfere. Fortunately it cleared up temporarily to allow us to see an amazing view of the Milky Way and many constellations with the naked eye, as well as a double star and Vega through the 24 inch telescope. It was really amazing how many more stars you can see when you are not in the city. Definately a fun learning experience.